Midnight Rendevouz
by liana1
Summary: G1- Ironhide and Chromia do a little reminsicing.


Night was starting to fall around Mount St. Hilary and all was quiet around the Ark except for the chirping of the birds and crickets. A warm breeze picked up, carrying the heavy scent of wildflowers, trees, and dirt to those nearby. The entrance to the Ark bathed a small radius of the surrounding area in a warm glow, casting shadows in the early evening, the sun sinking low in the western sky.  
  
On the western side of the Ark, stood a few Autobots and the Femme Fatales. With them were Spike and Carly. The two were holding hands.  
  
A short distance away from the group stood Ironhide and Chromia. Both had their arms folded in front of them. Every now and then one or both of them would look over at Elita-1 and Optimus Prime, grin a little, and shake their heads. Occasionally, they'd chuckle, which often prompted puzzled looks in their direction.  
  
Finally, the sun set, setting the sky on fire and then it was dark. Slowly, the stars started to poke out as those who were sitting stood up and everyone began to shuffle back to the main entrance.  
  
Spike and Carly watched Ironhide and Chromia for a moment before carefully making their way towards the two. Both of them were laughing about something.  
  
"Well, it's a switch from earlier," Carly noted softly.  
  
"Probably because of what Optimus and Elita told us," Spike replied back.  
  
Carly nodded some as they got closer to the two.  
  
"Hey, Ironhide. . ."  
  
Ironhide and Chromia looked down at them, both still smiling about something.  
  
"Hey, Spahke, Carly. Ah'd lahke fer ya to meet Chromia. Chromia, this is Spahke and Carly."  
  
Chromia gave a slight nod of her head, her grin getting bigger.  
  
"So what did you two think of Optimus and Elita's story?"  
  
"It was interesting," Spike admitted.  
  
"How did you two actually meet?" Carly inquired.  
  
At that question, Ironhide and Chromia looked at each other and started to laugh.  
  
"What? What is it?" Carly asked, bewildered.  
  
"We've been discussing that some," Chromia started to explain when her comlink beeped.  
  
"Chromia, this is Elita-1. Please report to the conference room immediately."  
  
"Will do, Elita," Chromia replied just before she signed off. Smiling faintly, she looked at them. "Gotta go. Maybe we can talk a little later?"  
  
"Sure," Carly smiled.  
  
"Great, I'll see everyone later," she grinend as she carefully made her way back to the Ark.  
  
The three watched her go in silence, the evening sky getting darker. A full moon and the stars punctuated the darkness.  
  
After a moment, Carly looked up at Ironhide, somewhat expectantly. "Well? Are you going to tell us how you met her or not?"  
  
Ironhide chuckled. "There's not much to tell, really."  
  
"There's not?" Spike asked in disbelief.  
  
"Naw . . . It was durin' one a th' ceasefires we had. . . Prowl and Ah were out at this one place, keepin' an optic on our troops when she got into a faght with a Mech there. . . "  
  
"She got into a fight with someone?"  
  
"Yeah. . . Wus pretty funny, too. . . she knocked him halfway across th' room with a single hit."  
  
"And what did you do about it?"  
  
"Not much really. . . Just watched, mostly."  
  
"What?!" They looked at him, shocked.  
  
Ironhide chuckled. "Ah learned a long tahme ago never to mess with a Femme when she's mad. She's lahkely to take yer head off."  
  
"I think there's more to the story than that," Carly stated.  
  
"An why do ya say that?"  
  
"Because you two kept laughing about something. Like you have some big secret."  
  
"Mebbe we do," Ironhide replied enigmatically.  
  
Carly just looked up at him, not sure of what to make of Ironhide's sudden change in behaviour. The old warrior just smiled knowingly at her.  
  
"Some things are just better left unsaid, Carly. You know that," Ironhide murmured softly.  
  
"In other words, you'd rather not say what this secret is."  
  
Ironhide nodded as they continued on to the Ark's main entrance.  
  
***  
  
A few hours later, Chromia sat at a private terminal, watching some inane human movie.  
  
They watch these things for entertainment? she wondered to herself.  
  
The door to the room slid open as someone walked in.  
  
"Took you long enough."  
  
"So?"  
  
Chromia shook her head and turned to face Ironhide.  
  
"You are something else."  
  
Ironhide grinned as he walked over toher. Gently, he started to massage her neck. She leaned against him as the tenseness left her muscle cables.  
  
"Fahnd anythin' interestin'?"  
  
"Not really . . . How can anyone stand to watch stuff like this?"  
  
"It grows on ya after a bit. . ."  
  
"I see. . . So what did you tell Spike and Carly?"  
  
"Not much . . . Just that ya got inta a faght with ol' what's-his-name and that's when we met."  
  
Chromia laughed. "That's all you told them?"  
  
"Yep. . . Didn't believe me, though."  
  
"I wouldn't, either."  
  
"Gee, thanks," he replied wryly.  
  
She laughed even more. "Admit it, Ironhide. You always have a story to tell."  
  
"Speakin a which . . ."  
  
"Oh no . . . Don't even bring it up. . ."  
  
"And why not?" he asked innocently.  
  
"Because. . . you'll get a kick out of remembering it."  
  
"And you won't?"  
  
For that, she had no reply.  
  
"'Sahdes, they were good tahmes. . . Ain't nuthin' wrong with rememberin'."  
  
"No . . . There isn't," she sighed softly, fondly. Smiling some, she settled herself comfortably against him.  
  
"Now, as Ah recall. . ."  
  
She couldn't help but laugh as they both remembered. . .  
  
***  
  
"You sleazebag!!!"  
  
Ironhide watched in amusement and disbelief as a pale blue and silver Femme hurled a chair and then a table at a Mech who probably could easily snap her in two. For some reason, he even found himself attracted to her.  
  
Aw, ferget it. By th' looks a things, she ain't even gonna want a Mech around, he silently berated himself. Not that Ah blame her one bit.  
  
A low whistle from his companion brought him out of his musings.  
  
"That's one upset Femme, Ironhide," Prowl commented. "Shall we break it up before someone gets hurt?"  
  
Ironhide quickly glanced around the room. Nearly everyone there had backed away, giving the couple a wide berth. He got the distinct impression it was nothing new, especially since quite a few were making bets with each other. Some even looked bored and continued to talk as if nothing was happening.  
  
"Naw, Ah think everyone's gonna be okay. 'Sahdes,' he added, mischief glinting in his optics, "it could be interestin'."  
  
"That's not logical, Ironhide,' Prowl stated.  
  
"Prowl, ol' buddy, there's nuthin' logical about an enraged Femme," Ironhide pointed out.  
  
To that, Prowl shook his head and turned his attention back to the quarrelling couple.  
  
"Chromia, baby, why are you acting like this? I swear to you, I love you and only you!!"  
  
That only served to enrage her more.  
  
"Love? Love?!? You don't even know the meaning of the word!!" she spat as she began to hurl drink at him. "If you did, you wouldn't have slept with damn near every Femme on base!!"  
  
"They meant noth . . ."  
  
He didn't get a chance to finish because at that moment she delivered a very powerful and strong right hook to his jaw, sending him flying.  
  
"Now we break it up," Ironhide said.  
  
Prowl nodded in agreement and they quickly walked into the 'battle' zone as the Mech started to stand up, his optics darkening with anger. Ironhide walked up to the Femme as Prowl walked up to the Mech.  
  
"That'll be enough of that," Ironhide stated, just loud enough for everyone to hear. A murmur of surprise and disbelief ran through the crowd.  
  
"Just who the slag are you?" she demanded.  
  
"She my girlfriend!!" the Mech hollered at the same time.  
  
They looked up in time to see Prowl sidestep and disarm the Mech.  
  
"Not anymore," Chromia stated as she turned and walked out the door. . .  
  
***  
  
"You make it sound so casual!" Chromia laughed. They'd gone from the computer terminal to lying next to each other on the couch.  
  
"Ah am not!" Ironhide protested. "It's how it happened!"  
  
She laughed even more. "I know that. But your delivery of it . . . I can see Spike and Carly just absolutely shocked at your telling of it."  
  
"Yeah," Ironhide chuckled. "But could ya imagine what their expressions'd be if they heard th' rest?"  
  
"You mean what we did afterwards?" she countered, smiling.  
  
He laughed once more and settled back onto the couch, holding her close as she continued. . .  
  
***  
  
Chromia quickly walked away from the bar, desperately trying to forget everything about Techno.  
  
The no-good lying piece of slag, she fumed to herself. He's not gonna get away with this. Not at all.  
  
"Hey . . ."  
  
Chromia whirled around to see a red Mech running after her. It was the same one who had broken up her fight with Techno.  
  
Good. It's not him. . . But what does this one want?  
  
"You gonna be okay?"  
  
"Yeah, I'll be fine," she replied cautiously.  
  
The Mech looked relieved. "That's good . . . Would ya like to tawlk about it?"  
  
"Did Techno send you?" she asked, extremely irritated. "Because if he did, you can tell him to shove it up his exhaust."  
  
He held up his hands in a placating manner. "Oh no. Ah wouldn't do nuthin' for a Mech lahke that . . . Can't stand it when someone does that to someone else . . . 's not rahgt."  
  
"You really feel that way?"  
  
He nodded, sincerity etched onto his face.  
  
Carefully, she studied him a little more. She'd had more than a few Mechs try and pick her up after many arguments with Techno. But she'd never broken up with him before and not in front of so many others. She wasn't sure what this Mech's game was.  
  
As she studied him, she got the distinct impression that somehow this one was different.  
  
Couldn't hurt to get to know him . . .  
  
"Th' name's Ironhide. . ."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Mah name's Ironhide. Ya asked me that insahde the bar . . ." he grinned a little.  
  
"So I did," she laughed, slightly embarrassed.  
  
Silence.  
  
"So . . . did ya wanna tawlk about it?" he ventured.  
  
"Not really," she replied. "I'm just tired of him and everything he put me through."  
  
"Ah can understand that."  
  
Chromia smiled a little. A Mech that can understand. That's a definite first.  
  
"I'd better get going . . . I need to find a place to say for a while. . . He knows where I'm staying and I don't want him bothering me."  
  
"Ah know of a place you can stay. . . A course, it's at Iacon . . ."  
  
She was about to tell him 'no' when he said Iacon. Blinking in disbelief, she felt her jaw dropping.  
  
"I-Iacon? You're from Iacon?"  
  
Ironhide nodded. "Yeah . . . Well, Ah've been stationed there for a few orns now."  
  
"So what are you doing here?"  
  
"Why not?" he shrugged. "We all need a break every now and then. And Ah've been in worse places so . . ."  
  
"True," Chromia admitted slowly. "No one will get upset if I show up there with you, will they?"  
  
He shook his head. "Naw. You'll be fahne."  
  
"What about security? I've heard it's been very tight since Sentinel passed away. They screen everyone who goes in there, including new troops."  
  
"Darlin', yer lookin' at th' assistant chief of security. If Ah bring ya in for whatever reasons, no one's gonna question it."  
  
"You'd take me to Iacon? Right now?"  
  
He nodded again.  
  
"What's the catch?" she asked, her optics narrowing in suspicion.  
  
"No catch. If ya wanna be stationed there, Ah'll arrange it."  
  
"And how long would I be able to stay there?"  
  
"As long as ya lahke. . . Except fer when yer out on a mission but if ya want it to be yer permanant station . . ."  
  
Chromia thought about it for a moment. I don't have anything to lose, really. My relationship is over, all of my friends are his friends and probably have been covering for him for some time. . . It's a chance for a new life. . . And it's now or never.  
  
"All right. Let's go," she smiled.  
  
Smiling back, he held out his hand. Slowly, she took it and they headed for the nearest transport system . . .  
  
***  
  
"You know," Chromia said softly, "the ride to Iacon seemed to take forever that day . . ."  
  
"It did, didn't it? But lookin' at th' sky . . . it wuz . . . beyond words," Ironhide drawled, one hand lazily carressing her shoulder.  
  
"Yeah, it was," Chromia agreed. "Then there was what we did when we finally got there," she added with a slight laugh.  
  
Ironhide laughed with her. "Those were definitely some interestin and good tahmes. . ."  
  
***  
  
Several breems later, Ironhide held Chromia close, coolant lightly covering their bodies.  
  
"Wow. . ." Chromia breathed, snuggling a little closer to him. "That. . . that was absolutely astounding. . ."  
  
"Yeah, it was," Ironhide agreed softly. "This normally don happen . . ."  
  
"You mean this is the first time you've . . .?"  
  
"Slept with a Femme? No. . . But it is the first tahme Ah've slept with a Femme Ah've just met. . ."  
  
"Odd," Chromia said softly. "This is the first time for me sleeping with someone I've just met, too. . . Don't be telling all your friends, either."  
  
"Don worry," Ironhide chuckled. "Ah ain't a bragger. 'Sahdes, ain't no one's business what Ah do in mah off-tahme and who Ah'm with."  
  
"You're sounding a lot like me," she chuckled.  
  
"Yeah, well, yer probably a lot more level-headed than Ah am," he admitted.  
  
She lifted her head up to look him in the optics. "Really think so, huh?"  
  
Ironhide nodded. They looked at each other for a moment before they started kissing each other softly. Moments later, their kissing intensified and, for a few more breems, they were the only two mechanisms in the universe. . .  
  
***  
  
"I still can't believe you had that effect on me back then."  
  
"And Ah can't believe that you had that effect on me back then," Ironhide pointed out.  
  
"Think we knew back then that there was something between us?" she asked softly.  
  
"Mebbe . . . It would sure seem that way, wouldn't it?"  
  
"Yeah . . .What time is it here, anyway?"  
  
He checked his chronometer. "Almost midnight. . ."  
  
"Don't we have a date or something?" she inquired, her optics sparkling.  
  
"Why, Ah do believe we do," he grinne as he kissed her deeply. Carefully, he stood up and lifted Chromia to her feet, leading her to his recharge bed, the chemistry between them taking over for the better part of the night. 


End file.
